Family Is More Than Just DNA
by Debate68
Summary: After finding out she was adopted,Abby looked for her biological parents. Well,they found HER...and it's not a very happy family reunion when they aren't who they say they are. Can Team Gibbs keep Abby safe? Will the budding romance between Tony and Abby survive?(Of COURSE it's a Tabby 'ship!) Rated M for language,implied abuse of children (NOTHING GRAPHIC!),and safety's sake.


_**A/N - **_**Hi! Smush68 here, the '68' part of 'Debate68'! This story is a collaboration between myself and DebateShortie. We wanted it to be a real collab, so we came up with a name for us - Debate68 - and brainstormed a story idea. We're going to take turns writing chapters. It was a unanimous decision - by DebateShortie - that I would do the first chapter. So, here it is! Hope y'all enjoy our little experiment! Please let us know with REVIEWS! Thanks! ~smush68**

_**FAMILY IS MORE THAN JUST DNA**_

_**CHAPTER ONE**_

It was a quiet day in the MCRT's bullpen, Team Gibbs deep into their latest case, a kidnapping/child pornography ring. Babies and young children of families from all branches of the military were being stolen. Investigative Services for each branch, while coordinating with each other, worked their own cases. It was NCIS that had uncovered the kidnapping-child pornography connection. When he'd 'accidentally' stumbled onto a kiddie porn web site, a Marine had been disgusted to discover the missing toddler of one of the men in his platoon. What sickened this Marine even more was that the pedophile - who's face was never shown - was wearing a U.S. Navy dress white uniform. Because none of the adult faces were ever shown, all the investigating teams couldn't be sure if the perpetrators were even really members of the military. They'd found out that high-end costumes shops in the D.C. area sold realistic-looking uniforms from every branch of the U.S. military.

This case was hitting Team Gibbs hard, particularly their leader, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. He was the only member of the team who was - had been - a father, his daughter and wife murdered decades ago by a notorious drug lord. Any case involving kids ate at Gibbs, but babies, children, being stolen from home - where they should be safe - struck a chord in him. He knew what it was like to lose a child.

Gibbs' thoughts turned to his agents, _his_ kids. He knew this ate at them, too. Tim had a younger sister, and Ziva had had a younger sister once, too. And Tony….well, having been a cop before joining NCIS, he'd seen his share of kiddie porn rings. Had even gone undercover once to break one up. He could get inside these perverts' heads, solving cases by thinking like them. For all his goofiness and wild playboy exterior, Gibbs' SFA had a strong set of morals and values. Crimes against women and children were the worst in Tony's mind, and he always took great pleasure in bringing down the ones committing those kinds of crimes.

With a deep sigh, Gibbs tossed down his pen and ran his hands through his hair. Catching a framed picture sitting on his desk out of the corner of his eye, his thoughts turned downward. Down toward the lab, that is, and the one he considered his youngest. Abby. He knew she was closer in age to Tony, but her zest for life, her determination to see the good in everyone, her…. 'innocence,' for lack of a better word, made her seem much younger, more child-like. Of them all, this was taking the hardest toll on her. Not only because she loved children and hated people that hurt them. Poor Abby was the one having to dissect every disgusting video they found. She was definitely having a hard time with this. She wasn't her perky, huggy self, a fact that did not go unnoticed by his team. Each of them would take turns disappearing down to the lab for what Tony had dubbed 'Abby Time.' It meant time lost on the case, but the way Gibbs looked at it, it was like therapy for all of them. Not to mention that it warmed his heart to watch his kids taking care of and watching out for each other. Gibbs, still thinking about Abby, paid little attention to the expensively dressed couple that walked up to Ziva's desk.

Sensing movement out of the corner of her eye, Ziva looked up from her paperwork. An older couple, both man and woman impeccably dressed, stood by her desk. From their perfectly coiffed hair down to their shined-to-a-high-gloss shoes, everything about them reeked of money to Ziva. They must be here for Tony, the young agent thought to herself. "May I help you?"

"Yes," the man spoke, his voice deep and smooth, his diction precisely enunciated. "We're here to see Abigail Sciuto."

Every head in the bullpen shot up, all eyes widening in surprise when they saw the couple. These weren't exactly Abby-type visitors.

Gibbs' gut started to churn. He stood and purposefully approached the couple. "What do you want with Abby?" he said quietly.

Sharing a look with her husband, the woman offered, "it's best we discuss it with Abigail first. It's of a…_personal_ nature."

Now Tony's gut began to grumble, and he stood, joining Gibbs. One more line of defense for Abby.

In a jangle of zippers and chains, Abby bopped into the bullpen the back way, by Gibbs' desk. "Hey bossman! Timmy called and asked me to come up," both Gibbs and Tony turned and glared at McGee, who just shrugged, " but the results aren't ready yet, so what…" She froze when she noticed the couple in front of Gibbs.

The older woman smiled warmly. "Abigail," she said pleasantly.

The team could tell how nervous Abby was by the way she twisted her fingers and hands together. Tony casually fell back a few steps back from Gibbs, putting himself between Abby and Gibbs. If this couple got through Gibbs, they'd have to get through _him_ next.

"Oh…ummm…h-hi….umm," Abby stuttered, a worried look on her face. Seeing her less than thrilled reaction, McGee walked to Abby's side, while Ziva stood to the side and slightly behind the couple.

Turning from Abby to look back at the couple, Gibbs straightened up, making himself look more intimidating. It was obvious his surrogate daughter wasn't exactly happy to see these two people. "What do you want with Abby," he growled, glaring at them.

Thinking it would appear less threatening, the woman spoke to Abby, completely ignoring Gibbs' question. "We've left quite a few messages for you and never heard back, so we thought we'd come see you in person." Her tone was calm yet bright.

Abby hoped her voice wasn't shaking as much as her hands were. "Oh…uh, I've…I've been, umm, I've been really, uh, really busy."

"We can imagine," the older woman smiled indulgently. "But, well…we're here now, and…"

"Y-yeah, um, I don't, um, have time…lots of tests to run…lots…um, very busy. Can't….um…today's not, not..uh, not good. S-s-sorry." Abby shrugged uncomfortably, looking at her watch. "Uhhh, I've…I've got to go…need to…add the stuff to the…um, thing. Uh, n-nice to see you again." She turned and all but ran out of the bullpen.

The agents shared a look, each sensing trouble. Gibbs gave an almost invisible nod to Ziva. She stepped forward. "Let me walk you out." She returned the small nod as she waited for the couple to pass her, then followed behind them.

McGee felt guilty for having called Abby up to the bullpen before finding out who these people were and what they wanted with the forensic scientist. Once the elevator door closed on them, he turned to Gibbs. "Sorry, boss. I'll go talk to Abby…"

Gibbs and Tony shared a look, communicating without words. Gibbs walked toward the elevator, Tony falling in step right behind him. "No, McGee. Get their images from the security cams. I wanna' know who they are and what, exactly, they want with Abby, by the time I get back."

McGee sat, a bit dejectedly, but he knew this was important. "On it, boss." He sighed as he watched Tony and Gibbs get on the elevator, wishing _he_ was the one going to console Abby.

_**Abby's Lab**_

The music in Abby's lab was always loud, but the two men had never heard it quite this loud and….angry sounding. Gibbs walked up to Abby, who was running back and forth from machine, while Tony turned down the music. There was only one Caf-Pow cup in sight, so Gibbs knew she wasn't hyped up on caffeine. "Abby….Abbs…._Abby!_" He stepped right in front of her, forcing her to stop.

"Oops. Sorry, Gibbs, like I told you upstairs, the results aren't ready yet. Be another couple hours at least." She took a breath and noticed the way those steel blue eyes were assessing her. "What? … No 'you've got _one_, Abbs, I want those results.'" she teased, imitating Gibbs. She looked back and forth between Gibbs and Tony. "What?"

"You ok, Abbs?" Tony asked with quiet concern, his eyes also scanning her for anything out of the ordinary.

Abby scoffed and stepped around the Gibbs-DiNozzo Wall to get back to work. "Pfft! Yeah, I'm fine, why?" With her back to them, she missed their matching raised eyebrows. "Just really busy, lots to do. Big case, remember?"

Frustrated, Gibbs nodded at Tony, telling him to try. Maybe she'd talk to him if she wouldn't talk to Gibbs. Tony stepped up close to her right side, so he could see her face and she his. When he just stared at her, Abby dropped the cover of Major Mass Spec down over the samples she'd just put in. "Talk to me, Abby," Tony murmured, his voice deep and soft. His heart clenched when he saw the tears building in her eyes. "C'mon, Abbs. Let me…let _us_" he included Gibbs so he wouldn't get a head slap, "help you."

Abby sighed sadly and turned to face two of her favorite people. "Thanks, guys, but really. There's nothing you can do." She didn't know that Gibbs had taken notice of how she was playing with her heart-shaped locket, the one with her mother - adopted mother's - hair in it. He got a very bad feeling in his gut.

Gibbs reached out and stopped the hand that was playing with the locket. "Abbs…does this have something to do with your adoption…your parents…your brother?" The deer-in-the-headlights look on her face told him he'd hit the nail on the head. Still holding her hand, Gibbs gave it a little squeeze and asked, "Who are they, Abby?"

Knowing she was defeated, Abby pulled her hand from Gibbs and trudged into her office, closely followed by Tony then Gibbs. She plopped sadly into the chair behind her desk. "They're my biological parents," she mumbled, but Tony and Gibbs still heard her.

"How'd you find them, Abbs? I didn't know you were even looking for them…" Tony asked, laying a supportive hand on her back.

"They found _me_," she began, holding up a hand before Gibbs could say what he was planning to say. "_Yes_, I checked them out first. It pays to have access to things most other people don't." Abby brought up a file on her computer. Gibbs leaned over her shoulder.

"What's this?"

Abby slowly scrolled through the information on the screen. "This is everything I found on them."

Tony took a step closer, peering at the photos and files. "Is that….?"

"The radical, extremist, human rights-violating dictator of a country that is not our friend? Yes," Abby said, worrying her lower lip with her teeth. The photo showed the couple that had visited the bullpen earlier, sharing drinks with one of the cruelest dictators of a third world country. "Doesn't exactly look like they're there to remove him from power." She brought up several more photos like that one. "There's all kinds of stuff like this about them. Nothing incriminating or one hundred percent illegal…."

"How'd they find you, Abbs?" Gibbs gave her shoulder a squeeze.

Abby sighed again. "Ohhh, it's all my own fault. I put my name and adoption information on a website that's kind of like a message board for people looking for their bio families or the other way around." Seeing Gibbs incredulous look, she rushed on, "I know, I know," she whined, "but I wasn't getting anywhere with my own search…I never really expected anyone to answer. And before you ask, I made sure they were the real deal. Met them for coffee, and after they left, I took their cups and ran DNA and fingerprints." Abby shrugged her shoulders. "They may hang around with third world dictators, but they are who they say they are."

Still behind Abby, Gibbs rubbed her shoulder softly. "What're you going to do?"

"Keep avoiding them by saying I'm busy?" she asked pathetically, sounding like a little girl. Damn Gibbs for knowing her so well - she caved under his stare. "I kno-o-ow, Gibbs, but….I don't know what to do. 'Hi, thanks for giving me away to someone who wasn't best friends with bad guys from bad countries'?" Abby got up and paced around her office. "Or…or, 'it was nice meeting you, too bad I didn't get to meet your friends, the terrorists'?" Abby was near tears. "These are people I've been hoping to find for a _year_, Gibbs! I mean, I wasn't stupid enough to expect all hearts and flowers and stuff, but I certainly never expected anything like…." she waved her arms around, "like…_this_." She raised teary eyes to the man she thought of as her father. "What do I do, Gibbs?" she asked, the insecure, little girl inside her coming out.

Gibbs reached out and pulled Abby to him, hugging her tightly. With a kiss on her temple, he held her away, hands still on her shoulders. "You should have come to me as soon as you knew, Abbs. But don't worry," he kissed her forehead, "we'll take care of 'em." He strode out of her office and then lab, followed closely by Tony.

"What're we going to do, boss?" Tony asked, concern written on his face. He hated seeing his best friend so conflicted. "These people could be more dangerous than she knows….."

"We're not letting them near Abby again," Gibbs ordered, pushing the button for the elevator. "You stick with her, twenty-four/seven. No one but the team gets near her, understand me?" He stormed into the elevator when it opened.

Tony looked at Gibbs, father-figure to them all. He'd never seen him so determined. "What're _you_ going to do, boss?" As the silver doors closed on his boss, Tony got the impression from the look on Gibbs' face that he really didn't want to know what his boss was going to be doing.

_**A/N-**_**Well? What did you think? Should we continue? Please let us know by making use of that little button below, you know the one, the one that says 'REVIEW'! Thanks!**


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